Wednesday (4/11/09), 6pmDLT1
Congratulations to the proposition in passing, what was, a very difficult motion and winning the debate. Well done to all the speakers, especially Ollie who was the Chair’s best speaker.
Tying in with Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night celebrations we are turning our attention this week to terrorism and the controversial issue of torture. The controversies following the West’s response to 9/11 has led to accusations of torture being used. In normal society torture is abhorred but, in the unique context of international terrorism, are there situations where torture can be justified?
The proposition will need to be very specific on precisely when torture can be used otherwise they will lose this debate within two minutes of it starting but, with the right parameters, they can put forward a case that could outweigh the obvious moral objections to torture. They will want to argue that in extreme situations, extreme measures must be taken. That when the life of a nation is under threat torture can be a necessary and legitimate ‘lesser evil’. One interesting issue is exactly where do you draw the line in terms of torture, isn’t incarceration through the penal system a form of torture?
The opposition however will want to reject the proposition’s suppositions, that the ‘ticking time bomb’ is a situation grounded in fiction and best left to Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer to take care of. They will want to emphasised the importance of human rights and that the practice of torture could increase the terrorist threat rather than reduce it.
Here are some links to get you started with your research:
http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=358 a summary of some of the issues in play
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6877401.ece a former MI5 Chief’s arguments for torture
http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/issues/1-torture/index.shtml the Human Rights, legal charity Liberty, a great starting point for facts and statistics
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